Chap. XXVI. GIGANTIC FISSURE. 343 



which I mentioned above, two on the right and one on the 

 left of the island were the largest, and the streams forming 

 them seemed each to exceed in size the Clyde at Stonebyres, 

 when that river is in flood. This was the period of low water 

 in the Zambesi, but, as far as I could guess, it had a width of 

 five or six hundred yards of water, and a depth, at the edge oi 

 the fall, of at least three feet. I estimated the total width 

 of the river above the falls at a thousand yards, which is its 

 ascertained width at Tete. 



The fissure is said by the Makololo to be very much deeper 

 farther to the eastward ; at one part the walls are so sloping 

 that people can go down by descending in a sitting position. 

 The Makololo, on one occasion pursuing some fugitive Batoka, 

 saw them, unable to stop the impetus of their flight at the 

 edge, literally dashed to pieces at the bottom. They beheld 

 the stream like a " white cord " at the bottom, and so far 

 down (probably 300 feet) that they became giddy, and were 

 glad to turn away. With regard to the width of the stream 

 at the bottom I am unable to give any information ; from the 

 hardness of the rock it might almost be inferred that the 

 fissure was no broader at bottom than at top, yet it is 

 probable that, beyond the falls, the sides of the fissure may 

 have given way, and that the parts out of sight may be 

 broader than the "white cord" on the surface. There may 

 even be some ramifications of the fissure, which take a portion 

 of the stream quite beneath the rocks; but this 1 did not 

 learn. (63) 



At three spots near these falls, one of them being the island 

 on which we were standing, three Batoka chiefs offered up 

 prayers and sacrifices to the Barimo. They chose their places 

 of prayer within the sound of the roar of the cataract, and in 

 sight of the bright bows in the cloud. They must have 

 looked upon the scene with awe, enhanced by the character 

 of nrysteriousness with which the whole river is invested. 

 The words of the canoe-song are — 



" The Leeambye ! Nobody knows 

 Whence it conies and whither it goes." 



The prismatic colours displayed on the spray, which they had 

 seen elsewhere only as the rainbow, may have led them to 



